A Tale of Two Gospels

 

Many Christians have heard claims from Mormons that Mormons are indeed Christian.  After all, Mormons do believe in the historical Jesus and even have his name in the name of their church.  But claiming to believe in Jesus and using his name in the title of a church do not automatically make a person a Christian; even the demons believe that Jesus is the Christ and tremble at his name. 

 

Anyone can claim to be anything, but those claims ring hollow unless they are supported by evidence that upholds the validity of the claim—even if they are sincere, as many Mormons are.  Similarly, the terms used to describe beliefs can be the same but have very different meanings.  Therefore, for a claim to correspond with reality, the claim must go beyond the words expressed to include the meaning poured into the words. 

 

To be a Christian means to adhere to certain key doctrines that cannot be compromised or added to.  They are doctrines that testify to exactly who Jesus is; what he accomplished; and the good news, or gospel, he gave to all who would believe.  If anyone teaches a Jesus or a gospel other than what has been delivered through divine inspiration in the Bible, they cannot be considered Christian.  In fact, the Apostle Paul even declares that they are eternally condemned.[1]    

 

To understand whether Mormonism teaches a different Jesus or a different gospel, we need to examine some of the key doctrines of Mormonism in the light of biblical doctrine.  As you will see, some of the terms used by both Mormons and Christians are the same, but they have very different meanings.

 

Who is the Jesus of Mormonism?

 

The following proclamation was made by Ezra Taft Benson, thirteenth President of the Mormon Church:

 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which he performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father.  Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost.[2] 

 

According to Mormonism, then, Jesus is the literal son of God the Father.  That is to say Jesus is God the Father’s offspring.  Mormonism teaches that Lucifer is also the literal offspring of God the Father and that Jesus and Lucifer are actually spirit brothers, born to God the Father on a planet near a star called Kolob.  Indeed, according to Mormon doctrine we are all the literal offspring, or spirit children, of God in “pre-existence” and literal brothers and sisters of Jesus and Lucifer.[3]

 

Mormonism also teaches that the Father is a “glorified and perfected man, a personage of flesh and bones” and men can become gods themselves by following the Mormon doctrine of “eternal progression.”[4]  It is this belief that leads to the Mormon teaching that men can become gods by their own effort, by following God’s “plan of salvation” and making it “fully effective” in their lives.[5]  Furthermore, according to Mormon literature, men are “Gods in embryo,” giving man the same essential nature as God.[6]  All this gives rise to the familiar LDS couplet coined by Lorenzo Snow, fifth President of the Mormon Church, “As man is, God once was.  As God is, man may become.” 

 

Is the Jesus depicted in Mormon teaching the same Jesus portrayed in the Bible? 

 

The Jesus of the Bible

 

The biblical Jesus had no beginning and is not the literal offspring of God the Father; he is from everlasting to everlasting.[7]  Jesus is called the “only begotten” of the Father because of his unique relationship with the Father and his standing as the sole representative of the being and express image of God.[8]  Rather than becoming the Son of God, Jesus is eternally the Son of God.

 

The biblical Jesus is unchanging.[9]  Jesus is fully God from eternity past to eternity future.[10]  Jesus is the creator and upholder of all things, including Lucifer and mankind.[11]  The biblical Jesus is God in the flesh.[12]  As such, Jesus not only accepted worship of himself but also taught others to worship him.[13]

 

The biblical Jesus is not a separate god from the Father.  The Bible teaches that the Father and the Son, along with the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost), are one God in essence, or being.  They are not three separate gods.  There is only one God, one Being, who is God in essence and three persons of the Godhead, who are eternally distinct and co-equal.[14]

 

The distinctions are clear.  The biblical Jesus is not the Jesus of Mormonism.  Mormonism teaches a different Jesus.

 

What is the Gospel of Mormonism?

 

The word “gospel” literally means good news, message, or tidings in the original Greek language of the New Testament.  The good news according to the Bible is that Jesus Christ came to take away the sins of the whole world by his death on the cross, not counting them against us.  Jesus took our sins, cancelled the debt that was against us, satisfied God’s justice, and provided righteousness as a free gift to all who believe.[15]  This was done so that we might not perish in our sins and find ourselves condemned and hopeless before the judgment seat of God. 

 

According to the Bible, to be condemned by God at the final judgment means to be eternally separated from God and cast into Hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[16]  Mormonism, on the other hand, does not teach that all those who fall short of perfection before God the Father will be condemned, but those who are condemned will be sent to what Mormon doctrine refers to as Outer Darkness.  However, if we are not perfect before God the Father, we will not be eternally in his presence.

 

Mormons do believe they need a savior and they accept Jesus Christ as that savior.  Mormons believe that Jesus made an atonement for sin, which is received by faith through grace as a free gift, not of works.  However, Mormon doctrine teaches that this free gift of atonement provides only for our resurrection and immortality, not a complete covering and removal of sin from the believer or a crediting of righteousness.[17]  In Mormonism, the Atonement gives us the opportunity to perfect ourselves and achieve the exalted state that will allow us to be eternally in God the Father’s presence.[18]

 

In order to make Christ’s atonement “fully effective” in receiving all the benefits of salvation, Mormon doctrine teaches that we must have faith in Christ, plus repent of our sins, plus be baptized, plus receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, plus obey all of God’s commandments.[19]  In Mormon doctrine, this is what is called obeying all the ordinances and commands of God.  All the benefits of salvation in Mormon doctrine means living eternally in the presence of God the Father and having the further opportunity of becoming a god.

 

Because repentance is so prominent in Mormon doctrine, it is important to understand what Mormonism teaches about it.  True repentance according to Mormonism is both admitting that we have sinned and forsaking our sins to the point of never committing them again.[20]  As you can see, true repentance in Mormonism comes only when you no longer sin, at which point repentance becomes unnecessary.

 

Gospel Principles declares, “It does little good to admit that we have sinned if we do not stop doing the evil thing.  If we truly repent of our sins, we will do them no more.”[21] 

 

And according to Spencer Kimball, twelfth President of the Mormon Church:

 

The progress toward eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection.  Living all the commandments guarantees total forgiveness of sins and assures one of exaltation through that perfection which comes by complying with the formula the Lord gave us.  In his Sermon on the Mount he made the command to all men:  “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  (Matt. 5:48).  Being perfect means to triumph over sin.  This is a mandate from the Lord.  He is just and wise and kind.  He would never require anything from his children which was not for their benefit and which was not attainable.  Perfection therefore is an achievable goal.[22]

 

The Atonement taught in Mormonism gets us on the path of righteousness that leads to eternally living in God the Father’s presence, but it is our good works of repentance and obedience to the ordinances and all of God’s commands that actually deliver us to God’s eternal presence.  According to Mormonism, then, it is our faith in Christ plus our obedience to all God’s commands (good works) that make us righteous and perfect by washing and cleansing us from our sins. 

 

Once again, Gospel Principles declares, “Christ did his part to atone for our sins.  Each of us must repent and obey to make Christ’s atonement effective in our lives….it is possible to be saved from our sin if we do our part.”[23]

 

According to Mormon doctrine, then, the good news is that Christ’s atonement gives us the opportunity to make salvation “fully effective” (acquiring all of the benefits thereof) by our own good works through complete repentance and obedience to ordinances and all of God’s commandments, thereby proving ourselves worthy of living eternally with God the Father.  Mormonism teaches that our faith is not only in Jesus Christ, it is also in ordinances and our own good works.

 

The Gospel of the Bible

 

Before discussing the good news of Jesus Christ, which is the gospel of the Bible, it is important to understand exactly why it is we need the good news.  We need the good news of Christ because of the bad news, or consequences, of our sin.  The Bible declares and our own lives confirm that we are sinful.  We are sinful because of the things we both do and do not do.  Moreover, we are sinful not because we sin but because it is in our nature to sin. 

 

Our sinful nature has been passed down to us from the very first sin, when man disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and was caused to die both physically and spiritually.[24]  Our spiritual death speaks to our separation from a holy God who cannot even look upon sin, a holy God to whom we have become enemies and children of wrath because of sin.[25]  In our sin, we are even called children of the devil.[26]  Now that is bad news, but it gets worse.

 

Because God is righteous and holy, his nature demands that we obey all of his commands in order to have a right standing before him and have any hope of spending eternity in the Father’s presence.[27]  If we fall short of obeying God in just one command, we are guilty of disobeying all of God’s commands.[28]  Yet, our state of sinfulness is so complete that we cannot obey all of God’s commands or even desire to do so. 

 

The Bible declares that no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by his or her own effort or works.  We are, therefore, utterly incapable of meeting the righteous requirements of God’s commands, or his law; and we are powerless to redeem ourselves to God and justly deserve punishment.[29]  There is no way we can escape our sin, and we are dead in our trespasses, physically and spiritually.  If we receive our justly deserved punishment, we will be eternally separated from God the Father and cast into Outer Darkness.

 

The good news, which is the gospel found in and supported throughout the Bible, is that Jesus Christ came to take away the sins of the world.[30]  Because Jesus led a sinless and perfect life, he justly qualifies as our savior and sacrifice.  He died for our sins, taking all of our sins upon himself and satisfying the righteous requirements of the law in our place; the just for the unjust.  He came to be our substitute, not our example. [31]  In so doing, the righteous requirements of the law (all of God’s commands) are fully met in us.[32] 

 

What that means for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ alone is that our debt to sin is fully paid and cancelled by Christ’s atonement.  Our sins are fully covered by the blood of Christ, fully paid, and God remembers them no more.[33]  As a result, God’s righteousness and holiness are fully satisfied, and we are credited with Christ’s righteousness, whereby we have a right-standing before God and will, without any doubt, spend eternity in the Father’s presence.[34]  We are actually declared righteous and perfect before God.  Now that is really good news.

 

This leaves us with two choices.  We either rely on Christ’s righteousness or our own righteousness (good works).  If we rely on Christ’s righteousness, we are by faith through grace reconciled and at peace with God.[35]  The Bible even calls us God’s adopted children and co-heirs with Jesus Christ.[36]  When we have a righteous standing before God, we lack nothing and there is nothing left for us to do that can make us more righteous and, thus, improve our standing before him.

 

If we rely on our own righteousness through good works to satisfy all of God’s commands, we are still in our sins.[37]  The Bible declares that the wages of sin is death.[38]  Wages are given for work received.  We get what we earn.  Because our good works cannot satisfy the righteous requirements of God’s commands, we earn condemnation and cannot be in the Father’s presence.  Furthermore, the Bible warns that if we try to add anything to Christ’s righteousness by our own good works, we actually make the righteousness he freely gives us of no effect.[39]  The reason, as we have seen, is that our own works are powerless to make us righteous before God.[40]  Our reliance on them demonstrates that we have not put our faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

 

The gospel of the Bible, then, is a gospel of grace, or undeserved favor.  God loves us so much that he sent his Son to be our substitute and to take the punishment for our sin.[41]  What we cannot possibly earn, God freely gives us.  When we put our faith in Christ, we put our faith in his righteousness, which he credits to us, and thereby have a perfect standing before God for all eternity.  That is good news.  If we put our faith in our own good works or anything in addition to Jesus Christ alone, the result is not good news at all.

 

Once again, the distinctions are clear.  The gospel taught in Mormonism is not the gospel of the Bible.  Mormonism teaches a different gospel.

 

A Different Jesus, A Different Gospel

 

From the foregoing, it is quite clear that Mormonism teaches both a different Jesus and a different gospel, not to mention a different God.  Therefore, there is no biblical basis from which Mormons can support claims that they are Christian.  However, that is not the end or even the point of this exercise in comparing the Jesus and gospel of Mormonism with the Jesus and gospel of the Bible.

 

Jesus beckons all who labor and are burdened to come to him and he will give them rest.[42]  Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light because Jesus carries what we cannot.  In the case of our sin, Jesus carries all of it, and our path is righteousness and perfection before God.  When we try to carry any of our own sin, even the smallest portion of it, or take responsibility for our own perfection, our burden is great and our path is destruction. 

 

The point of all this is to shed light on the fact that our Mormon family members, friends, and neighbors carry an enormous burden.  Because they have placed their faith in their own good works to perfect themselves, they are still in their sins and bound for Outer Darkness.  We need to reach out to them in love and introduce them to the Jesus and gospel of the Bible.  Only then will their burden be easy and their destination secure.  Only then will they be assured of spending eternity in the presence of their Heavenly Father.

 

For more information on reaching out in love to Mormons with the true gospel and Jesus of the Bible, please contact Grace Works, an LDS outreach ministry of Calvary Chapel Boise.